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Pennsylvania fortune-tellers cajoled desperate victims into relinquishing high-end goods to be cleansed of ‘black magic’: report

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Pennsylvania fortune-tellers cajoled desperate victims into relinquishing high-end goods to be cleansed of ‘black magic’: report


A pair of supernatural swindlers is accused of duping their victims into forking over their personal goods, including high-end merchandise, and even blackmailing some into following their instructions all under the guise of fighting “black magic,” investigators said.

Gina Marks, 52, and Steve Nicklas, 40, both from the Philadelphia metro area, are accused of teaming up to take advantage of vulnerable people and pilfering more than $600,000 from 2022 to 2024, according to a press release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Steve Nicklas, 40, and Gina Marks, 52, allegedly duped unsuspecting clients out of more than $600,000. Montgomery County District Attorney

“These defendants, through their con scheme, preyed on people who were looking for help, guidance and hope, exploiting them for financial gain. They are now going to be held accountable for their actions,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said.

Their victims’ mystical misadventures began in 2022 when one called the Jenkintown Psychic Visions for a psychic reading over the phone. The suspects were quick to conclude that the victim was trapped by a “powerful curse preventing her from finding love and happiness,” the release said.

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The fortune-tellers ran the Jenkintown Psychic Visions in Pennsylvania.

The suspects convinced the frantic victim that if she didn’t have the curse removed, which they could do, then it would “destroy her marriage, business and family,” according to the release.

Over the next year, the victim continued to pay for their services and handed over wads of valuables, including jewelry, cash, clothing, and concert tickets, so that they could “cleanse” the curse.

The suspects told the woman that they needed her valuables “to complete the ritual” that would lift her curse, but the belongings were never returned, according to the release.

Marks is accused of threatening one victim with “reputational damage and personal repercussions” if she didn’t comply with her instructions.

The victim eventually stopped seeing the pair after a year of counseling. By then, the psychics had taken roughly $595,959 from her, the release said.

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Around the same time, another client was growing wary as Marks kept asking her to share “increasingly personal” photos and images under the guise of completing “rituals that would help her,” according to the release.

Between June 2023 and February 2024, Marks turned up the heat and started threatening “reputational damage and personal repercussions” if the victim didn’t fork over her Chanel purse and more money, according to the release.

Marks allegedly drained $18,000 from the second victim, prosecutors said.

Marks was previously sentenced to six years in prison for a similar scheme. wikimedia

The duo was arrested Tuesday for a laundry list of felonies, including involvement with corrupt organizations, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen property, and fortunetelling, according to the release.

The fortune-tellers were arraigned on Tuesday, the release said. Both were released after posting bail and are expected to appear in court on Oct. 20 for a preliminary hearing.

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It isn’t Marks’ first rodeo, though.

The serial scammer was sentenced to six years behind bars in 2018 for a similar scheme where she bilked a lovesick woman out of more than $80,000. Marks repeatedly insisted she needed larger sums of money in order to cast a love spell on the victim’s boyfriend, who had recently gotten married.

Marks attempted to flee the country, but was captured at Miami International Airport, NBC Washington reported.

At the time, she insisted she was a bona fide psychic who provided legitimate services

“People are racist from gypsies. They’re racist on my culture. We do have power. We’re not allowed to talk about it,” Marks said.

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Pennsylvania man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer

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Pennsylvania man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer


A Pennsylvania man was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar, according to reports.

Timothy Grace, 40, was busted on Feb. 21 after carrying his wounded pet budgie named “Blue Skies” in his pocket to Callaghan’s Bar in Greensburg, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Timothy Grace was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar. WTAE

“The caller’s a bartender. She says there is a white male at the bar with a parakeet,” a dispatcher reported on the police radio transmissions obtained by the outlet.

“The patron was bragging to other people that were inside the bar that he feeds the parakeet marijuana and has it drink beer on a daily basis,” Detective Sergeant Justin Scalzo told the outlet.

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Grace “appeared extremely intoxicated” when police showed up to the bar and found the pet bird in distress, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

“Its leg appeared to be broken,” Scalzo said, according to WTAE. “Its foot was actually facing the wrong direction.”

Grave was initially arrested for public intoxication and now faces charges including aggravated cruelty to animals and transporting animals in a cruel manner, the outlet said.

The pet bird was brought to PEARL Parrot Rescue in the Pittsburgh area, which rushed him to an emergency care facility.


Exterior of Callaghan's bar, with a sign showing
The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg. WTAE

Blue Skies spent four days in the hospital and was later taken in to be fostered by Teri Grendzinski, the president of PEARL. The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg, CBS reported.

“They realized his leg was broken. He also had some respiratory issues going on,” Grendzinski told the outlet. “He was also very, very skinny.”

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“The leg was broken badly enough there is a chance they’re going to have to amputate the leg if it doesn’t heal correctly,” she added.

If Blue Skies is eventually put up for adoption, he will require specialized care, the outlet said.

“When we got that call, it was horrifying. Why would you do that to a bird?” Grendzinski said.



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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico

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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico


A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter’s best friend over a three-year span before fleeing with the teen to Mexico.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Kevin Esterly, 53, of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, was convicted on all counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of children.

Esterly shook his head as the verdict was read but said nothing in the courtroom.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

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Esterly’s trial began on Tuesday, March 3, after a judge denied his pretrial motion for the charges against him to be dismissed and for the Lehigh County District Attorney to be removed as a prosecutor in the case.

Both Esterly and his victim testified on Wednesday, March 4.

The victim — who is now 24-years-old — told the courtroom that she met Esterly and his family while attending church as a child and became best friends with one of his daughters. Esterly was a youth leader and elder at the church at the time. The victim said Esterly also coached her soccer team.

The victim said she became so close to Esterly’s family that she called his wife “mom” and eventually spent almost every weekend at their home in Lowhill Township, Pennsylvania. She also said she vacationed with them in New York state and Ocean City, Maryland.

The victim said Esterly first sexually assaulted her in August 2015 when she was 13-years-old after he gave her alcohol during a family birthday party.

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“I was scared. Frozen in fear,” the woman told the courtroom on Wednesday. “I pretended I was sleeping.”

The woman accused Esterly of sexually assaulting her almost every time she slept over at his home. She told the courtroom she eventually became addicted to alcohol and drugs, which Esterly gave her in exchange for sex. According to the woman, Esterly gave her cocaine and methamphetamine to keep her awake during school because she “would be up with him all night.”

The woman said Esterly continued to sexually assault her until he was confronted by his wife in 2017. Esterly’s wife then threw him out of the house, according to the victim. She said Esterly continued to sexually assault her over the next year.

Esterly was later arrested and then sentenced to prison after federal agents found him with the victim in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2018. She was 16-years-old at the time.

The woman said she moved on and went to college after Esterly’s sentencing though she still struggled with drug addiction. She said she sought counseling in February 2025. She told the courtroom she received a message from Esterly on LinkedIn that same month in which he apologized for “failing you as a person I was supposed to be for you.” At that point Esterly had been released from prison.

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The woman said she had not told anyone about her relationship with Esterly up to that point and replied to him, “I live with our secret every day as I promised. I would appreciate an apology.”

The woman told the courtroom that Esterly responded by writing, “I hope one day you can forgive me. Nobody knows I reached out to you. That is the best for both of us.”

On Feb. 21, 2025, Allentown Police received a report of Esterly’s sexual assaults which led to the new charges being filed against him. He was arrested in West Virginia in June 2025 after two police pursuits. He was then extradited to Pennsylvania.

The victim told the courtroom on Wednesday that she kept quiet about Esterly’s abuse for years because she “was afraid to speak,” and felt “dirty and ashamed.”

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone,” she said. “He was a father figure in my life. I loved him.”

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The woman also said she didn’t want to hurt Esterly’s daughter who was her best friend.

When the District Attorney asked her why she was “here today,” she replied by saying, “I want to tell the truth. I want to be set free.”

The woman ended her testimony by saying, “I don’t want to live with this secret anymore.”

After her testimony, Esterly took the stand for 45 minutes, denied all of the accusations against him and accused the woman of lying.

Closing arguments then took place Thursday morning. It then took an hour for the jury of seven women and five men to reach their verdict.

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say



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Two women are dead in Pennsylvania and a man is dead in Illinois after an apparent murder-suicide, police said on Wednesday.

According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation began in Hillside, Illinois, when police there were dispatched after a man reported two women dead in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania. Police said that when officers got to Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago, they found that the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After identifying him, troopers said Hillside officers contacted police from Jackson Township to request a welfare check at the man’s home on Dior Drive, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. 

Map shows distance from Hillside, Illinois, to Zelienople, Pennsylvania

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KDKA


Police said officers used forced entry to get into the home and found two women dead from apparent gunshot wounds. It’s believed the two women were family members of the man who died by suicide in Illinois, investigators said. 

Pennsylvania State Police said they’ve assumed control of the case and are “actively investigating” what happened surrounding the three deaths.

Police didn’t release any names, saying the process of formal identification and notification of next of kin hasn’t been completed. Sources told KDKA that the victims were a husband, wife and their daughter.

“At this time, investigators believe there is no ongoing threat to the public, and law enforcement is not searching for any additional individuals in connection with this incident,” police wrote in the public information release report. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation.”

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State police didn’t release any other details on Wednesday but said more information will be made public when it’s available.  

“My first reaction was shocked because this is such a close-knit neighborhood, and to think something that horrible could happen here is very tragic because they were such a good family,” neighbor Danielle Sporer said on Wednesday. 



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